SOLD - Choose to see the good stuff

Paintings with a Purpose: A collection of paintings that aim
to bring awareness and gratitude.

The inspiration for this collection was for my desire to
give back and to remind myself to be grateful.

Knowing that many people across the world live in extreme
poverty while I am fortunate enough to live in beautiful, prosperous Canada has
constantly made me think of how I can make use of my own God-given talent and
abilities to enrich and serve the lives of others.

For years I grappled with how I could help, until recently
when my family and I planned a trip near a Mexican landfill community called
Gardenia. It was there that I got to meet the native people (Nancy, Alisha and
their families) who make their livelihood from scrummaging through a landfill
in hopes to find objects they can exchange for monetary value. These beautiful,
generous people offered me their collected salvaged objects that had no
monetary value, so that I could bring them back home and use them in my
artwork.

These salvaged objects were the technical inspiration
throughout this collection; however, the awakening of gratitude born from these
objects is my overall desire.

My aim for each piece was to create a stand-alone,
captivating and beautiful painting that I precisely composed with different
markings, mediums, colors, and rhythmic details to complement each salvaged
object.

No two paintings look similar because each salvaged object
is different. This made for a fun, yet challenging process for me - the artist,
as I was always needing to reinvent my process and application of the different
mediums. Some salvaged pieces were sharp and angular which led to bolder sharp
marks, while others were soft and organic in shape, which led to a more flowing
and softer paint application.

My hope is that the viewer may engage in each piece as they
search amidst the colors, details and brush strokes, and then reflect on the
salvaged object as a contrast to the blessings they have across the world.

I want the viewer to leave feeling grateful and inspired to
see their life more positively and maybe even be moved to help others.